1 LOCATION AND SIZE

Yemen is located in the Middle East on the southwestern part of the
Arabian Peninsula, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. It has a western
coastline on the Red Sea and a southern coast on the Arabian Sea. With a
total area of about 527,970 square kilometers (203,850 square miles),
the country is slightly larger than twice the size of the state of
Wyoming. Yemen is administratively divided into seventeen governorates.

2 TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES

Yemen has no outside territories or dependencies.

3 CLIMATE

Yemen has a very hot, semitropical climate, with temperatures as high as
54°C (129°F). The average temperature varies over the two
basic seasons, ranging from 22°C (72°F) in summer to 14°C
(57°F) in winter. The Red Sea coast is particularly hot and humid.
The interior mountain regions experience frost in winter. Sandstorms
often appear in both summer and winter as winds sweep across Yemen.

Monsoon rains drench much of otherwise dry Yemen twice each year, from
March through May and July through September. In the southwest corner of
the country there is more consistent rain, with constant fog along the
coast. Yemen's average annual rainfall is 51 to 91 centimeters
(20 to 36 inches), with great regional variation. Less than 12
centimeters (5 inches) of precipitation falls on the coastal lowlands,
contrasting with 100 centimeters (39 inches) in the highlands above
3,000 meters (9,842 feet).

4 TOPOGRAPHIC REGIONS

Yemen has five principal geographic regions: the Tihama coastal plain;
the mountainous interior; the high plateau, the Wadi Hadhramawt region,
and the Al Mahra uplands; the Rub'al-Khali interior desert; and
the offshore islands.

5 OCEANS AND SEAS

Seacoast and Undersea Features

The Red Sea lies to the west of Yemen. The Red Sea is a narrow,
landlocked sea that separates Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. It
links to the Mediterranean Sea through the Gulf of Suez and the Suez
Canal. In the south, the Red Sea links to the Gulf of Aden and the
Arabian Sea through the Strait of Mandeb (Bab el Mandeb).

The Arabian Sea, which is an extension of the Indian Ocean, lies to the
south of Yemen. The Gulf of Aden, to the southwest of Yemen, is an
extension of the Arabian Sea. Some 5 percent of Yemen's coast has
nearby coral reefs, with particularly diverse marine habitats in the Red
Sea.

Sea Inlets and Straits

One of the world's most important shipping lanes, the Strait of
Mandeb, connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden southwest of Yemen,
and separates Yemen from the African countries of Djibouti and Eritrea.
The natural harbor of Aden lies on the Gulf of Aden. The coast curves
inward at Cape Fartak, forming the Qamr Bay (Ghubbat al Qamar) near
Yemen's border with Oman.

Islands and Archipelagos

Yemen has more than 115 islands, including Perim in the Strait of Mandeb
and the Hanīsh Islands and Kamaran further north. Yemen also
possesses the 3,626-square-kilometer (1,400-square-mile) island of
Socotra in the Arabian Sea. Socotra has numerous endemic species, with
intact land and marine ecosystems. The Brothers, a chain of small
islands near Socotra, also belong to Yemen.

Coastal Features

Cape Kathib (Ras al Kathib) interrupts the north-south stretch of
Yemen's Red Sea coast near the port of Al Hudaydah. The town of
Turba marks the corner on the Strait of Mandeb where the Red Sea and
Gulf of Aden
coasts converge. Yemen's Gulf of Aden coast runs from southwest
to northeast. Coastal plains follow on the Gulf of Aden, with sandy
beaches including Cape Sharma and Dhobbah, which are nesting sites for
endangered green turtles.

Jebel al Houf, on the coast far to the east, has Yemen's largest
forest (200 square kilometers/77 square miles), in an area where
mountains trap monsoon moisture to create a foggy, misty zone; it is
protected by the local community.

6 INLAND LAKES

Yemen has no significant natural freshwater lakes. There are some small
brackish lagoons along the coast, however, and several hot springs in
the highlands.

Wastewater lagoons north of Ta'izz and northeast of Al-Hudaydah,
and a treated-sewage outflow area west of the city of Aden, have become
important bird habitats. Mudflats, sandbars, and mangroves form wetlands
with individual ecosystems along the Red Sea coast.

7 RIVERS AND WATERFALLS

Yemen's highlands are interspersed with deep
wadis
, or riverbeds. The wadis are usually quite dry with little vegetation,
but many of them will fill dramatically during times of heavy rains.
Rainfall drains through seven major wadis that can flow west as far as
the Red Sea. These are the Rima, Rasyan, Mawr, Surdud, Siham, Zabid, and
Mawza. Wadis that drain south into the Gulf of Aden from the eastern
regions include Hajar, Jahr, Warazan, and Yemen's longest, Wadi
Hadhramawt, at 240 kilometers (149 miles).

8 DESERTS

Inland from the mountains and north of the Wadi Hadhramawt valley,
gravel deserts transition into the sand dune deserts of the
Rub'al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, which extends across the border
from Saudi Arabia. Even in this inhospitable region, oases are inhabited
during the rainy season. Productive salt pans are found in the
Rub'al-Khali.

On the Gulf of Aden coast is a coastal fog desert ecosystem, with
vegetation that eventually gives way to the Tihama desert. The Tihama is
a narrow, hot, humid, yet almost waterless strip that extends along the
Red Sea coast and covers approximately 10 percent of the country.

9 FLAT AND ROLLING TERRAIN

Scrub grasslands, with sparse ground cover and shrubbery, are common
throughout Yemen. This type of terrain, which covers about 30 percent of
Yemen's area, is used for raising livestock. Over-grazing is an
environmental threat.

Yemen's eastern mountains slope down into hills that merge with
the sands of the Rub'al-Khali desert. Other hill areas include
the Hadhramawt and Al Mahra uplands in the east. Throughout Yemen, the
foothills of mountain ranges are terraced for farming.

The valleys of Wadi al-Malih and Wadi Warazan near the city of
Ta'izz, as well as Wadi Zabid near the port of Al Hudaydah,
contain marshes that are decreasing in area due to demands on the
groundwater, agricultural conversion, and grazing.

The valley of Wadi Hadhramawt extends from the central part of the
country south-eastward to the Gulf of Aden. Surrounded by desolate hills
and desert, the upper and middle parts of the Hadhramawt, with their
alluvial soil and seasonal floodwaters, are relatively fertile and are
inhabited by a farming population. The lower eastern part of the valley,
which turns southward to the sea, is barren and largely uninhabited.

DID YOU KNOW?

The term "Middle East" was coined by western Europeans
as a geographic designation for those countries of southwest Asia and
northeast Africa that stretch from the Mediterranean Sea to the
borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including the nations on the
Arabian Peninsula. This area was considered to be the midpoint between
Europe and East Asia, which was often called the Far East.

In a cultural sense, the term sometimes refers to all the countries of
that general region that are primarily Islamic. In this sense, the
Middle East also includes the countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan,
as well as some of the North African countries that border the Arabian
Peninsula.

10 MOUNTAINS AND VOLCANOES

Yemen's interior is quite mountainous, with several ranges
running along a north-south axis parallel to the Red Sea and also along
an east-west axis parallel to the Gulf of Aden. The mountains, which
include extinct volcanoes, reach 2,438 meters (8,000 feet) in the
extreme
west, gradually tapering off to the east. Elevations in the interior
mountains range from 2,133 to 3,048 meters (7,000 to 10,000 feet). Rocky
spars and sharp, steep ridges dominate these systems; the rugged
landscape limits access to the country's interior.

There are western, central, and eastern ranges. The western mountains,
although steep, are terraced to support intensive agriculture. The
central mountain range begins in the vicinity of the old city of
Ta'izz and includes Arabia's highest peak, An-Nabī
Shu'ayb, which rises to 3,760 meters (12,336 feet).
Yemen's capital, Sanaa, is located in one of the largest basins
of the central range, at an elevation of 2,400 meters (7,874 feet). The
eastern highlands rise to heights of 762 to 1,067 meters (2,500 to 3,500
feet).

Efforts are being made to preserve the forests of the mountainous Utma
region of the central highlands, which include medicinal and fragrant
tree species.

11 CANYONS AND CAVES

Yemen's canyons include the Al Guedam canyon in the mountains
north of Sanaa, Wadi Dahero canyon on Socotra Island, and the Bir Maqsur
limestone crevasse, also on Socotra. Deeply eroded ravines cut by
extinct or seasonally flowing rivers (the
wadis
) fissure much of Yemen's interior.

12 PLATEAUS AND MONOLITHS

Yemen's eastern region occupies the irregular southern end of the
Arabian Plateau, which was formed from ancient granite and has been
partially covered by sedimentary limestone and sand. The central
highlands of Yemen are broken into plateaus ranging in height from 1,200
to 3,000 meters (4,000 to 10,000 feet). The Harra Plateau, north of
Sanaa, is a spectacular landscape of lava rock, sandstone striations,
and extinct volcanic cones.

13 MAN-MADE FEATURES

The largest lake in Yemen is the artificial Marib Reservoir, which was
created by a dam built in 1986. The 30-square-kilometer (12-square-mile)
reservoir is shrinking in size as its water levels have been depleted;
it also has been afflicted with algae blooms. Throughout history, Yemeni
residents have built small dams and canals along the country's
riverbeds in order to collect water for drinking and irrigation.
Unfortunately, since few of the rivers are permanent, these dams have
not always been helpful. In fact, flash floods have destroyed some of
these dams–swept away by the waters they were meant to contain.

14 FURTHER READING

Books

Hansen, Eric.
Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea.
New York: Vintage, 1992.